NALCO alumina refinery faces acute coal shortage

Bhubaneswar: National Aluminium Co(NALCO), India's second largest aluminum producer, said it may shut down its alumina refinery in Orissa due to coal shortage.

The refinery at Damanjodi in Koraput district, some 500 km from here, is facing coal shortage since April this year due to less supply by two subsidiaries of the state-run Coal India.

The coal supplies by Mahanadi Coalfield and South Eastern Coalfield have come down drastically in the past three days, forcing NALCO to scale down plant operation, a senior NALCO official told.

The plant is getting only 1,000 tonnes of coal per day against 2,500 tonnes the company requires for its normal operation. "We maintain a buffer stock of 40,000-50,000 tonnes, but it has come below the critical level now," he added.

"With the stock available, the plant can run only for next few days. If we don't get coal, we may have to shut down the plant," NALCO chairman C.R. Pradhan told.
Source: IANS